Opportunistic Science
After array construction, a few science goals that were not explicitly designed have been mentioned.
For a very different science goal, the Allen Telescope Array has offered to provide the downlink for any contestants in the Google Lunar X Prize. This is practical since the array, with no modifications, covers the main space communications bands (S-band and X-band). A telemetry decoder would be the only needed addition.
Also, the ATA was mentioned as a candidate for searching for a new type of radio transient. It is an excellent choice for this because of a large field of view and wide instantaneous bandwidth. Following this suggestion, an instrument was custom-built for the ATA to search for bright radio transients, and observations were carried out between February and April 2008.
Read more about this topic: Allen Telescope Array
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“The poet uses the results of science and philosophy, and generalizes their widest deductions.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)